Joint protector



T. E. MEANY JOINT PROTECTQR Feb. 8, 1949.

Filed Dec. 17, 1945 be inserted, the wheel having opposite anges seating it for engagement with the sides of the slot 23 against its movement in either direction and permitting the free movement of the Wheel longitudinally of the slot. To attach the plate to the supporting pad I8 and also to the material of the band 6 a plurality of fastening bolts 28 are inserted through the ends of the plate 2l, the pad I8 and the band 6, with ilat nuts 21 at the inner side of the' band where they are protected from contact with the leg of a wearer by a fabric cover 28 or any other suitable means which may also be held in place by the stitches 20.

Extending through each mounting wheel is.

a shouldered stud bolt 29 having a fasteningV nut 30 at the inner end of the bolt and the innerend of the wheel and a shouldered portion 3l for pivotally engaging the upper end of the brace I6. With this construction each brace I6 will move freely in the slot 23 of the plate 2l and will turn freely about its pivot in the lower band 1 and also will rotate freely about the pivoting wheel 25 which permits both a pivoted and longitudinal movement. The upper bolts 2S by which the plate 2| is held in placeare also located close to the upperend of the slot 23 so that when they are in place they will prevent the outwardmovement of the pivoting wheel 25. To remove the pivoting wheel from the slot these upper bolts 2B must first be removed and the wheel 25 may then be disengaged from the slot.

Since the size of the upper band 6 is somewhat larger than that of the lower band 1, each side brace I6 is formed with an oifset intermediate its ends as shown more clearly in Fig. 3 and since the inner side of each leg is usually shorter than the outer side of the leg, the outer brace I 6 is preferably longer than the inner side. If it should happen that the inner side of a Wearers leg is longer than the outer side, which sometimes is the case, the protectors may be reversed to place the longer braces at the inner side of the legs.

In order to insure that the upper bands 6 do not slip downwardly, a support 32 like a garter or portion of a suspender having spaced extremities 33 which are attached to the upper end of each band 6 at opposite sides of the pad I8 as shown in Fig. 1 and the upper end of each supporter is attached to a belt 34 around the waist of a wearer.

This protector is designed and intended to be Worn inside of the ordinary playing clothing as shown in Fig. 1 and in direct contact with the leg of a wearer and may be adjusted and tightened to t legs of different sizes. Y Since the joint action is the same, no adjustment of the brace lengths is needed except that it is preferable to have the brace at one side longer than at the other side as above stated.

v It is also desirable to have the outer ends of all projecting parts as flat or; rounded and withV as little projection as possible so that -no injury or discomfort will be caused by the ordinary wearing of the protector and no damage or injury will be caused to the wearer by forcible .contact of another player with the protector, and no injury to the ,other player who does come in contact with the projections of the protector.

Additional padding may be provided at the insidev of the bands if desired tojprotect the wearer and the clothing outside of the protector itself usually is sufficientfor preventinginjurious contact with some other person.

' While Ythe preferred construction' has been described in connection with a knee joint protector, various other constructions, combinations and arrangements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In an athletic joint protector for a movable hinged joint, a pair of bands adapted to be tightly applied to the limb above and below the joint, a pair of braces, one for each side of the limb and-having an oiiset therein to accommodate it to different sizes of the limb above and below the joint, means on one of the bands providing a xed pivotal joint for each of the braces, and means connecting the other end of each brace and the other band to provide a pivotal and sliding connectionof the Ibrace therewith, the braces being relatively movable to accommodate the limb hinging action and forming a guard against displacement of the joint transversely of the hinging action.

2. VIn a joint protector of the class described, a pair of bands for attachment above and below the joint, a pair of side guards attachable to the bands, yeach side guard comprising a brace having a iixed pivotal connection at one end with one oi the bands and having a pivotal and sliding connection at the other end of the brace with the other band, the pivotal and sliding connection comprising a hanged mounting wheel secured to the brace, and a slotted plate which is engaged by the wheelianges for permitting a swinging and sliding movement of the braces and for preventing a relative movement of the joint parts at right angles to the movement of the brace.

3. In a joint protector for hinged joints, a pair of bands tightly attachable above and below the joint, a pair of side guards connecting the bands at opposite sides of the joint, each guard ccmprising a brace having a pivotal connection with oneof the bandsV and having a pivotal and slidable 4connection with the other band to permit a 'normal free action of the joint, and one of the bracesbeing longer than the other to accommodate the diierence in the size of a limb at opposite sides thereof above and below the joint.

4. In a joint protector, a pair of bands for attachment about a limb above and below the joint, a pair of side guards attachable tothe 'bands at opposite sides of a limb, each side guard comprising a brace.' means comprising plates secured to one of the bands at opposite sides and each havingV a fixed pivotal connection with one end of the corresponding brace, means comprising a slotted plate xed to the other band with an opening at the upper end of the slot of the plate, a mounting wheel attached to the upper end of the brace and movable in the slot and of a size to slip through the opening at the upper end of the plate for attaching and removing the mounting wheel, and means at the upper end of theslot to prevent accidental removal of the mounting wheel.

5. In-a joint protector, a pair of bands adapted to be tightly attached around the leg or arm of awearer above and below the joint, a pair of braces connecting the bands one at each side of the joint to prevent lateral displacement of the leg or'arm at the joint, and mounting means for connecting eachend of both braces with the supporting bands, said mounting means for one end of each of the braces comprising a plate, a pad interposed between the plate and the band and the pad having a central portion of uniform thickness to; which the plate is applied and having beveled edge portions extending from the central portion attached to the band for forming a flexible connection therewith at the edges of the pad, and means forming a pivotal and sliding connection between the other end of each brace and the other supporting band.

6. A joint protector, comprising a pair of bands adapted to be Iattached above and below a joint, a pair of side braces connecting the bands at the joint, means forming a pivotal connection with each brace and one of the bands, means forming a pivotal and sliding connection with each brace and the other band to permit a free hinging action of the joint, and means for supporting one of the bands to prevent it from slipping toward the joint.

7. In a joint protector, a pair of bands for tightly engaging a limb at opposite sides of a hinged joint, the bands being graduated in size to fit tightly about the limb above and below the joint, a pair of braces located at opposite sides of the joint, each brace having a pivotal connection with one of the bands and a pivotal and sliding connection with the other of the bands to permit afree hinging movement of the joint, the braces being oiset intermediate their ends to accommodate the braces to limb portions of different sizes, and the opposite braces for each limb being of different lengths to accommodate the protector to limb portions of different sizes at the inside and outside of the limb.

8. A knee joint protector, comprising a pair of bands each adapted to iit tightly about the leg of a wearer above and below the knee joint, a pair of side braces, the braces of each pair being offset between their ends and one brace slightly longer than the other to accommodate them to the changes in size of the leg above and below the joint, each brace having means forming a pivotal connection with one of the bandsl and means forming a pivotal and sliding connection with the other of the bands, said connections permitting a free hinging action of the knee joint and providing a guard for preventing lateral displacement and injury to the portions of the joint from the sides thereof.

THOMAS E. MEANY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are oi record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 21,872 Bunce Oct. 26, 1858 554,776 Davis et al. Feb. 18, 1896 562,608 Herbelin June 23, 1896 1,457,710 MacDonald June 5, 1923 2,144,641 Snyder Jan. 24, 1939 

